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The much-awaited ODI clash of the two strong contenders of the World Cup, Australia and South Africa, begins on November 14th in Perth. The T20 series was a tight one with the decider went till the second last ball, but at the end, it was Australia who sealed the deal. South Africa would also be quite happy as the likes of Quinton de Kock, Rilee Rossouw and David Miller showed some serious skill in the T20s and it would definitely provide them the required confidence for the ODI Series. Let’s take a look at the team analysis starting from Australia.

Australia:

The Australian team has been bolstered by the return of Shane Watson into the squad. Watson, who missed the Zimbabwe and the UAE tour due to injury, is now fully fit and raring to go. In the recently concluded T20s, he was hitting the very well which showed that he is slowly but surely finding his touch. Michael Clarke has also made a return to the ODI squad and this would be his real test as he is out of form and it would be interesting to see how he finds his form against the deadly South African pace attack. In bowling, World Cup probables Mitchell Starc and James Faulkner have been left out of the first two ODIs to allow them some Sheffield Shield time ahead of the Indian Tests. This has given Kane Richardson and Josh Hazlewood the opportunity to press their claim for a place in the World Cup squad. There is no place for Nathan Lyon in the squad but it is expected that he’ll feature in the later part of the series. Mitchell Johnson will spearhead the bowling attack once again.

South Africa:

South African top-order looks well set as all the three Amla, de Kock and du Plessis have been scoring truck loads of runs from quite a long time and will look to continue their good run here too. The middle-order will miss the services of JP Duminy, who has been ruled out of the entire ODI series due to his knee injury. Not only this will add more responsibility on de Villier’s shoulders to stabilize the middle-order but this will also give Rilee Rossouw full five opportunities to make a case for himself to be a regular part of the playing eleven. Their bowling is currently the best as compared to all teams in the cricketing world. These conditions will be very much ideal for Steyn, Morkel, Philander and McLaren and it wouldn’t be surprising if they leave Australian batting reeling on more than occasion in the series.

Probable Playing XI For South Africa:

Prediction: Both teams are extremely strong and an exciting battle is on the cards. Both of them are in good form in ODIs but I expect South Africa to go 1-0 up tomorrow because they have more experience in their bowling than Australia.